Rivers crisis: Wike woos pro-Amaechi lawmakers

 THERE are indications that some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly perceived to be pro-Governor Rotimi Amaechi are being wooed by the camp of the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike.

Amaechi and Wike are the two dramatis personae in the current crisis tearing apart members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State.

So far, 27 out of the 32 members of the state House of Assembly have expressed their support for the state governor while the remaining five are in Wike’s camp.

There have been allegations that those in the minister’s camp, who felt bruised by the suspension of the Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Mr. Timothy Nsirim, are planning to remove the Speaker and the governor.

Wike hails from the same local government area with Nsirim.

The PUNCH learnt that Wike’s camp had realised the futility of any attempt to use only five members of the House to remove the governor hence the said resolve to “snatch” some of the Amaechi loyalists in the state assembly.

Hundreds of youths, especially from Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state, on Monday stormed the state House of Assembly and called for the removal of Amaechi as well as the Speaker, Amachree, for the role they played in Nsirim’s suspension.

Amachree on Monday announced the postponement of resumption of members of the House, citing negative security report for the action.

A top official of the House of Assembly told The PUNCH that lawmakers targeted to move to Wike’s side were mainly members who felt that they might not be relevant in the 2015 political calculations in the state.

The source, who asked not to be mentioned because of the political development in the state, said the lawmakers being targeted by Wike,  about 12 in number, were being induced with promise of juicy public offices in the next dispensation.

The source said, “The truth is that the Wike camp has suddenly realised that it would be difficult to execute any impeachment plan with only five members of the House.

“As I speak with you, there are serious moves by the other (Wike) camp to woo some of the 27 lawmakers who are Governor Amaechi’s supporters. The members are about 12 in number and they have been promised good political positions in 2015.

When contacted, however, one of the 27 Amaechi loyalists, Mr. Onari Brown, said he was not interested in joining Wike’s camp.

Brown, who represents Akuku Toru Constituency 1, said his business in the House was for the development of his people.

He maintained that he was not in Wike camp and would never contemplate joining the minister’s camp.

 “I am not in Wike camp and nobody has contacted me to join his camp,” he said.

Other sources also told our correspondent that many top politicians in the state had been frequenting Abuja in search of favourable political positions since the crisis in the state PDP began with the court verdict that ousted the Chief Godspower Ake-led executive of the party.

Some members of the party have been in and out of the Port Harcourt International Airport, moving to and from Abuja.

A source said, “If you monitor the movement of these politicians from Port Harcourt to the airport, you will notice that they have suddenly increased their rate of flying out of the state. It cannot be unconnected with the crisis in the state.

“Most of them are looking for their next political position and they believe that travelling to Abuja for different types of meetings could help them to know the camp they can pitch their tent.”

Efforts to speak with Wike on the recent development in the state did not yield any result as the minister did not respond to several calls made to him by our correspondent nor did he respond to a text message sent to his mobile phone.